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NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Kazakhstan's ruling Nur Otan party will nominate its candidate for a snap presidential election in less than two weeks, RFE/RL reported. Continue reading
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — With the announcement of a snap presidential election in Kazakhstan, the power transition game has drawn closer to its culmination. We are republishing the following article on the issue, written by Peter Leonard*, originally published by Eurasianet: While announcing Kazakhstan’s snap presidential election on April 9, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev omitted to say whether he would run. But in just three weeks in charge, he has already begun to look like the leader-in-waiting. Tokayev, 65, has toured the provinces to glad-hand people, popped over to Russia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and announced populist decisions. Billboards with his image have already begun appearing. When Kazakhstan goes to the polls on June 9, the list of options will be very short. It always is. When Nursultan Nazarbayev got 97.5 percent of the vote in April 2015, his only opponents were a pair of faceless nobodies. Initial indications are that the plan is for the new man to be eased into elected high office with similar smoothness. Tokayev attributed the hasty vote to a desire to spare the country the anxiety of not knowing what comes next. “In order to ensure social and political harmony, to confidently move forward, to address the demands of social and economic development, it is necessary to get rid of any uncertainty,” he said during the April 9 televised address. In a message distributed via the Telegram app after the announcement, Tokayev’s recently appointed advisor, Yerlan Karin, reiterated the point and sought to impress the democratic nature of the planned election. “It is not by chance that the head of state emphasized that ‘the president will be elected according to the will of the people.’ This is a key passage in his address,” Karin wrote. And yet, the rules are such that very few people will be able to get over the multiple hurdles placed before prospective candidates. Only officially registered political parties and public organizations may put a person forward. All groups critical of the authorities have been categorically denied such registration, so government-detractors are shut out by default. What is more, candidates should in theory be nominated by their backers no later than two months before the vote. Tokayev’s last-minute declaration elicited indignation for that reason. “What open elections are we talking about if political parties and public organizations have just a little more than one day to put forward their presidential candidate? Under our laws, self-nominated candidates are barred from running,” journalist Vyacheslav Abramov wrote on Twitter. If candidates are not nominated before the deadline, however, election officials will grant another extension of up to 20 days. Should the plan be for him to run, Tokayev’s nomination is a given. That endorsement would invariably come from the ruling Nur-Otan party. Aikyn Konurov, the head of the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan faction in parliament, was quick to express his readiness to compete. Konurov is a lawmaker with little public profile and his party is an ersatz left-wing political formation, so...
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Kazakhstan will hold a snap presidential election on June 9, the interim head of state Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has announced, moving the vote up by almost a year following Nursultan Nazarbayev's resignation last month after 30 years in power, RFE/RL reported. In a televised address to the nation on April 9, Toqaev said he would "guarantee a free and fair election," though no vote held in the Central Asian country since the Soviet collapse of 1991 has been deemed democratic by international observers. Toqaev said that he made the decision to hold an early election after discussing the issue with Nazarbayev — referring to the ex-president as Elbasy, or Leader of the Nation, a title bestowed upon him by the loyal parliament in 2010. The early election appears aimed at shortening the political transition period and decreasing the chances of instability following the abrupt resignation of Nazarbayev, 78, who had been president since 1990 and remains chairman of the ruling party and the influential Security Council. No date for the vote had been set but it had been expected to be held in April 2020, five years after the previous presidential election. "In order to secure social and political accord, confidently move forward, and deal with the tasks of socioeconomic development, it is necessary to eliminate any uncertainty," Toqaev said in his address. Toqaev did not say whether he would run in the election, but he would not have been expected to do so in the speech because presidential candidates can only be nominated by nationwide organizations such as political parties. It was not immediately clear whether Nazarbayev's eldest daughter, Darigha Nazarbayeva, who heads the upper parliament house and has been seen as a possible successor, would run in the election. An aide, Saule Mustafaeva, said that she was not planning to run, but Nazarbayeva herself did not confirm that in a brief comment, saying only that anyone can run and that it is up to political parties to nominate candidates. Both Toqaev and Nazarbayeva are members of Nur Otan. The announcement of a vote in two months leaves potential opponents of a ruling-party candidate with little time to mount campaigns, reducing their chances in a country where opposition has been marginalized and politics is still dominated by Nazarbayev.
KABUL (TCA) — Afghanistan's presidential election has been postponed by more than two months to give the authorities more time to organize the ballot and fix the problems that occurred during the October parliamentary polls, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported with reference to the country’s Independent Elections Commission (IEC). Continue reading
ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said there are no immediate plans to push forward the date of the country's next presidential election, which is scheduled for 2020, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Continue reading
KABUL (TCA) — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has registered as a candidate for Afghanistan's presidential election later this year, setting up a rematch with Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, RFE/RL reported. Continue reading
